Nekhas - Factotum
If you have been offended or insulted by this character and his fictional and entirely fabricated writings (all or some of which may have deceived you because of their lack of valid disclaimers), we implore to read this apology letter written by the creator of this character. "Probably the most talented individual of the century..." ~ On Nekhas, according to Informal Notes on Personalities of Alcestia by Elgaron Needham. Background Nekhas (IPA:/'nɛkhæʃ/) is a self proclaimed artist, alchemist, cartographer, herbalist, inventor, merchant, musician, novelist, odd-job laborer, philosopher, playwright, poet, polyglot, polymath, researcher, wanderer, and writer. The only occupation that seems to encompass all those jobs is a Factotum. He is a human who claims to have come for the far eastern lands, across the sea, though the people who knew him when he was young know that he actually came from an impoverished village that skirted the southern edge of the Miral Desert. He also claims that he has traveled all of the Alcestian Domain, and is always quick to offer people, for a limited time only, his self-published book: "The Bizarre Travels of Nekhas: Volume 1" at the price of 100 quid (though many skeptical people often reject his offers, stating that he couldn't have possibly traveled all of Alcestia - and have also been equally quick to point out that that so-called 'limited time' has been extended for a year already). In some of his literary works, he uses the pen-name Elgaron Needham. He, yet again (this is getting exhausting), likes to claim that he is the disciple of someone called "Grandmaster Isqallunah" who supposedly taught him all he knew - though many who know him believe that this Grandmaster, along with the other people he likes to quote, are likely to be figments of his overly fertile imagination. Conveniently, Nekhas aligns himself with the Kingdom of Valeria in order to receive the realm's protection, and also sees the masses of the realm as the main market for selling his writings. Appearance A swarthy, slightly tall man who wears a Van Dyke kind of beard. His eyes are dark. His hair is black and curly. His voice is quite deep. Personality Nekhas is an inquisitive and somewhat unscrupulous as a person. He is known by the people who know him as a opportunist who is quick to switch sides should one side be at an advantage or disadvantage (though he is also capable of carefully considering the price of abandoning or betraying the group that he is currently aligned with). He is verbally supportive of the Valerian Kingdom, but is in actuality non-committal to the conflict between the factions as long as any of those things don't affect him. Still, he enjoys writing political satire regarding the laws, beliefs and propaganda of the Valerian dominion and of the other factions. He highly values honesty, but also recognizes the immense worth of dishonesty as a survival mechanism. Talents Nekhas has only a moderate combat prowess, and therefore prefers to settle things with words. So I guess you could say that he has some talent in speechcraft and penmanship, though the nature of his jack-of-all-trades occupation gives him a charlatan's understanding (not proficiency) of various skills. Combat-wise, he is an average skirmisher who uses prefers the dagger, the bow-and-arrow, and the cowardly but surprisingly effective tactic of hiding behind a shield, while relying on his self-concocted poisons and explosives to handle the more unreasonable and troublesome of adversaries. He thinks honor is balderdash and would very gladly chuck a firebomb or hurl a drugged shiv into a knight's fancy leggings even if the guy challenges him to a respectable duel. Bibliography *The Bizarre Travels of Nekhas: Volume 1 *Eighty-One Sayings of Isqallunah the Wise *Informal Notes on Personalities of Alcestia *Catalogue of Alcestian Artefacts *Notes on the Alathorn Plaque *Impressions on the Thruweld Throne Room * Fascinating Contraptions Story Threads *Doing Everything from the Carpet: Part One Category:Characters Category:Kingdom of Valeria